


Keeping Watch

by procrastinationfairy



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, POV Outsider, locker room drama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 02:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21639466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/procrastinationfairy/pseuds/procrastinationfairy
Summary: Poots and Falconers rookie Jojo are convinced Tater and Snowy are soulmates. They're also convinced Kent Parson is wrecking this. They decide to do something about it.
Relationships: Alexei "Tater" Mashkov/Kent "Parse" Parson/Dustin "Snowy" Snow
Comments: 11
Kudos: 88
Collections: Polya Epifest 2019





	Keeping Watch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sungabraverday (korechthonia)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/korechthonia/gifts).



> My fic for the Poly Epifest 2019! I'm not very experienced writing polyamorous relationships, but it was a lot of fun to write, especially from this perspective. My gift recipient is sungabraverday, or korechthonia on tumblr, and the prompt was "in which no one wins the betting poool because no one accounted for all parts of the relationship OR other locker room shenanigans," and I also saw Soulmate AUs under likes, so I wanted to combine soulmates and locker room shenanigans. I hope you all like it!

Before Jack Zimmermann, no male hockey player had ever openly acknowledged another man as his romantic soulmate. A few had proclaimed that they had platonic soulmates, proven by the marks on their arms, and for some, those had stirred up rumors that they weren’t _really_ platonic. But before Jack Zimmermann, no one had admitted it openly. 

Since Jack Zimmermann, sometimes people wonder. Tater, for instance, is an affectionate man. He’s affectionate with all of his friends equally, except for Snowy, who seems to reap the most of his attention. 

“Snowy!” Tater cries when he enters the locker room. He settles one arm over Snowy’s shoulders and draws him closer. His fingers curl around the string dangling from Snowy’s faded blue hoodie. “Is good morning! You look bright and early.”

This draws a smile out of Snowy, like Tater does every morning as he intentionally butchers some good-morning-phrase. Snowy isn’t much on mornings, but if anyone can put him in a good mood, it’s Tater. 

Snowy isn’t wearing a band over his wrist this morning. The list has five names, and two are faded. His stall is in a corner, and only Tater sits next to him. The other closest player is Poots, and the best he can make out is that one of the names on the list _might_ be Alexei Mashkov. 

* * *

Most lists contain at least five names. Generally, the most anyone has is ten. It’s accepted that people will encounter every name on their list at least once in their lives, and it’s the choices made that determine which soulmate is the one they’re truly destined to be with. When you find that person and build that relationship, the other names fade away. Most married couples don’t need to wear bands, as the other names on their lists have faded into almost nothing. 

* * *

No one talks about Kent Parson when Jack is in the room, but when he isn’t, sometimes words fly. Jack is out sick during the Falconers’ third game, and so Parson’s name is allowed out of Pandora’s box. Most people have nothing to say. They aren’t playing the Aces. But the Aces are playing a game on the west coast, and when Poots’ phone buzzes with a score update, he has to say something. 

“You think Kent Parson is . . . .” Poots waggles his hand from side to side. 

“Gay?” the new Falconer rookie, Jojo, whispers, like he would be in trouble for suggesting it. 

“No!” Poots scoffs. “A homophobe. I heard that’s why he and Zimmboni fell out back then.”

“Oh.” Jojo looks perplexed by this. “But there were all those rumors about Parson and Zimmer--Zimmboni--”

“Maybe that was the issue. Maybe Parson realized Zimmboni was into him, and he flipped,” Poots says.

“You kids need to learn to mind your own business.” Marty’s voice is sharp as he untapes and retapes his stick, but all three of the vets mean business when they line up and give a look like that. Only Guy wears a band. Gabby’s name flashes stark against Marty’s pale skin. The marks on Thirdy’s skin are more discreet, but the lines of his wife’s name are sharp while the others are faint like scars. 

“I’m just saying. Maybe we should watch out for Parson,” Poots says.

“We already do.” Snowy slams his skate off of his foot and stretches his leg out. Beside him, Tater wrinkles his nose.

“Put on shoe. Foot stink. Don’t know how anyone share bed with you, is so bad.” He pretends to cough until he falls off of the bench. 

Snowy rolls his eyes and doesn’t dignify this with a response. Jojo notes that his feet really do stink. He wonders if Tater knows firsthand how bad it is to sleep next to someone like that.

* * *

Kent Parson wears a big clunky watch. It is a remarkably expensive big clunky watch, but nothing can distract from the fact that it _is_ strangely large. The silver band covers two inches on his left wrist, which is not enough to cover a normal list. There are no names visible on the rest of Kent Parson’s forearm. 

* * *

The first sign of trouble appears when Tater is looking for Snowy after the first game against the Aces.

“We supposed to get dinner together. No one see him?” Tater’s voice booms through the locker room, but the answer is still no. Snowy must have rushed through changing because he’s vanished. Tater deflates, and some of the Falconers wonder if there’s trouble in paradise. 

When Jojo leaves the locker room, he decides to take a detour. He’s never seen the rest of the Aces’ facility before, and no one can blame him for being a little curious. He finds a hallway that is mostly abandoned, and at the end, Snowy stands in front of Kent Parson. They’re both fully dressed. Parson’s back is pressed against the wall. He lifts his left wrist, bare except for three neat lines, two crisp and black and one beginning to fade, and strokes Snowy’s cheek. Snowy ducks his head down and kisses Parson. 

Jojo thinks he should tell Tater, but he’s a rookie and the idea of ruining a vet’s relationship with a man who _has_ to be his soulmate sounds terrible. He tells Poots instead. 

* * *

Even among those who don’t wear bands, it’s considered impolite to stare. Wrists and lists are private unless someone deigns to show them off. Tater never wears a band, but no one stares. It doesn’t matter anyway. His hands are always moving too quickly for anyone to read any of the ten names on his wrists, whether they were stark or faded. 

* * *

Poots is the one who decides they have to tell Tater. 

"It's the right thing to do," he says. "If my soulmate were cheating on me, I'd want to know. It's just the right thing to do. And it's not going to be the end of the world. Tater has a list. He'll find another soulmate."

"But what about Snowy?" Jojo asks. It's hard to imagine what the locker room would be like if they weren't together. They were always at each other's side. They had patterns for roadies. (They order and buy each other's food, and they have to sit across from each other, never side by side.)

"Snowy's the one who chose to cheat," Poots says, more emphatic now. "Besides, he has Parson. He's made his choice." 

Jojo makes a face. "Yeah, but…" He can already tell he's going to lose this argument. Poots is exerting his authority as Jojo's senior on this one. 

They wait until they have a day off, with only practice days ahead, to drop by Tater's house. He lives as far out of town as he can and still make it to the arena in ten minutes if he drives like a maniac, which is a fact he is proud to brag about. It takes Poots and Jojo twenty minutes to drive there and an extra five to find the driveway because they miss the turnoff. Halfway up the drive, Jojo says, "Oh, shit, what if Snowy is here?"

"What?" Poots yells. The window is down because he keeps sticking his head out the window to read the faded address stickers on mailboxes. Jojo thinks he could probably do that inside the car. 

"What if Snowy is here?" he repeats. "We can't tell Tater then. And he'll wonder why we came all the way here. What are we going to say?"

"Uh," Poots says. He doesn't answer, even as they pull into Tater's driveway. Snowy's car isn't there, but Jojo spots a three-car garage. He doesn't think Tater has three cars, which means anyone could be behind the front door. 

Poots leads the way without any hesitation. He walks across the red brick path to the door and rings the doorbell. Jojo trails behind him, mostly thinking about if he can run back to the car. 

It’s too late. Tater opens the door. He’s wearing a Falconers’ t-shirt, like always, but it’s rumpled in a way that shirts don’t get from merely being worn. Tater stares blankly for a moment before his brows jump up. “Poots? Jojo? Everything okay?” He steps out and immediately peers around. “Car trouble? I have long cord for car--”

“Jumper cables?” a voice calls from inside. “Who needs a jump?”

Behind Tater is Kent Parson (what the _FUCK_ ), wearing _another_ Falconers’ t-shirt, one that is definitely not his size. He leans into Tater’s arm, head tilted just enough to let the collar slip and show off a hickey. 

“We don’t need a jump,” Poots says. Jojo is very close to smacking him. 

“No?” Tater asks. He looks a little more perplexed, mouth forming a perfect “O”. Kent Parson raises a brow that makes Jojo feel like he’s judging them, which is--that’s not fair, right? He’s the one who’s apparently messing around with Tater _and_ Snowy. 

“Directions!” Jojo shouts, a beat too late and a decibel too loud. 

“Directions?” Poots and Tater say at the same time. 

“Yes,” Jojo says confidently. He has a strong feeling that the only thing they should be doing right now is getting as far away from Tater’s house as possible. He trusts his gut in intense situations. It’s usually right. “We are going . . . to the grocery store.”

If only his brain could catch up and make decent excuses. 

“Is . . . not grocery store close to home?” Tater asks helplessly. Jojo can only imagine the question marks floating around in his head. 

“We’re looking for a special grocery store,” Poots says. Thank fuck he finally caught on. 

“Yes. A grocery store that sells . . . Middle Eastern food.” Jojo flashes a smile and hopes that there’s a store like that somewhere around here.

“Oh, that should be easy to find,” Parson says. He leans around Tater, one hand on the small of his back, to grab his cell phone from somewhere to the side. After a few taps, he pulls up the map to show the address of, what-do-you-know, an Asian and Middle Eastern grocery store. “Hey, what’s your number? I’ll text you the address.”

Within two minutes, Parson has sent him the address, made sure they knew how to use the maps on their phones, and made them promise to text that they get there okay. Jojo’s head is spinning. He guesses Poots’ is too because he hasn’t said anything in a while. They walk towards their car, only half-listening to the conversation they leave behind. 

“Where you learn to take good care of rookie? Like papa, so sweet.”

“Hey, you live in Vegas, and you have to take care of rookies. Who knows what trouble they’ll get into? They try to go to the grocery store, and they end up in a casino where they spend their entire first paycheck.”

“Mm. Still like papa though. Is sweet.”

“Just sweet? Not sexy? I’m not a DILF?”

“The fuck, I go shower for five minutes, and you two are standing with the door open, talking about DILFs?”

“You could have let us shower with you.”

“Shower’s not big enough for Tater’s ass and your head.”

Something clicks in Jojo’s mind as Poots pulls the car out of the driveway. He turns his head to look behind them. Snowy stands on Tater’s other side now, a towel slung over his shoulders. Tater leans in to kiss him, pressing him into the doorframe. Parson is behind him, pressing kisses to the back of Tater’s neck and grabbing one of Snowy’s hands. 

Jojo turns back around. He feels like he’s missing something. 

* * *

The grocery store sells many new foods that Jojo and Poots have never tried. They didn’t mean to go there, but they didn’t want Tater to check. They leave with way more food than they need and definitely more than they know how to cook. 

* * *

After the incident at Tater’s house, Poots drops the subject about interfering in Tater and Snowy’s relationship. Jojo thinks that’s a good idea, as he can’t get the image of those two and Parson out of his head. Maybe he saw Snowy inviting Parson for a threesome? But why would they choose Parson? Of all people, why him? As far as Jojo was concerned, Parson was attractive in a very pretty, very smug way that made him less attractive than he should have been. If they wanted a threesome, they should have just gone for a foursome and invited Zimmboni and Bitty. That was Jojo’s dream threesome. 

“What are you thinking about?” Poots asks. They’re at family skate today, and Jojo is salivating over the newest creation from Bitty’s brilliant mind. He is very, very jealous that Zimmboni’s soulmate can bake like this. 

“Nothing,” Jojo says.

Poots stares blankly. “You look like you want to screw the pie.”

“Don’t do anything illegal to my pie!” Bitty calls from out on the ice. He’s dragging a sled with about five children on it, which seems impossible for a guy his size. Jojo remembers Zimmboni saying something about how Bitty makes the impossible happen when it comes to pie and children. 

“I’m not!” Jojo defends. He cuts himself a slice of pie, just in time too.

Tater swoops in and cuts three large pieces of pie. When Jojo and Poots stare at him, he says, “Is not all for me! Pie for soulmates too!”

“I don’t like sweet things,” Kent Parson says from his left.

“I do,” Snowy says to the right. He snags a plate and bumps one of the pieces off of Tater’s before he snatches a fork to shove a bite in his mouth. 

“Hey,” Tater says, though there’s no fight in his voice. 

“You don’t get to complain. You got three pieces so you could pretend you _have_ to eat mine,” Parson scoffs. A smile tugs at his lips, and he leans his head into Tater’s arm. 

Tater shuffles around and pushes Parson in the middle. “Snowy steal pie. I get to complain,” he says. 

Snowy rolls his eyes. “Okay, baby,” he says. He glances over to Parson with a mischievous grin. “Hey, if he doesn’t want to be near me--”

“We can cuddle without a space heater,” Parson agrees. Their eyes are both bright in a way that shows they know they’re messing with Tater, but they immediately fall into each other, Parson tucked into Snowy’s arm. He tilts his head up for a kiss that really shouldn’t look so good. But Parson--no matter his personality--is really pretty, and Snowy has that eyeliner and that hair, so--

With a laugh, they pull apart. Snowy winks at Tater as they slip back out to the ice, and Tater scrambles after them. 

* * *

Jojo catches a glimpse of Kent Parson’s wrist at family skate. He’s not wearing his watch, so his list is bare to the world. At the top, one name is almost fully faded. Underneath it, _Alexei Mashkov_ and _Dustin_ _Snow_ stake their claim. If Jojo had to guess, Tater and Snowy’s wrists told a similar story. 


End file.
